In one there was a baby, measuring 6w2d, with a strong heartbeat of 127 bpm.

The other was smaller and empty.

The u/s tech tried (I think) to let us down gently.

“The doctor will explain it all to you,” she told us. “Sometimes they still develop. Sometimes they are just slow.”

Then she asked if we wanted a picture.

“I give you one of the good baby,” she said. “That baby looks perfect.”

While waiting for the doctor, I read my chart. I showed it to Q.

“That second sac is completely empty,” I told him. “It’s not going anywhere.”

Q. thought for a minute. “Maybe we should have told her that her telling us that second sac wasn’t going to keep developing would have been really good news,” he said at last.

He was right. As much as I have tried to get my head around the possibility of twins over these last couple of weeks, there’s no denying that when it was clear from the u/s tech’s measurements that the second sac was empty, I mostly felt relief. A twinge of sadness for the baby that tried to be, but mostly it was relief.

The ultrasound tech was really cheerful (she’s not usually- I’ve had many an ultrasound with her before). She printed us a picture. She said congratulations a whole bunch of times. It must be one of the only nice parts of their job.

Then we met with my doctor.

“That second sac isn’t going anywhere, right?” I asked.

He shook his head. He had been talking in terms of a “brother or sister for E.” I don’t think he would have mentioned it at all if I hadn’t asked him about it.

“There’s a very very small clot located right next to the gestational sac with the baby in it,” he said. “You’d have to really be looking for it to find it.” (I have no idea how they can find ANYTHING. I could see the two sacs- they were black blobs- but how she managed to see and measure the baby and identify the yolk sac and the heart is beyond me.)

“That, plus the empty sac raises your chances of miscarriage. I’d like you to aim for a very restful week. Do you need a note for work?”

I looked at Q. He sighed.

“I’ll teach your class tomorrow,” he said (one of the perks of a husband who works in the exact same field you do).

I’m not on bedrest (and I don’t know how I’d manage that if that had been the request given the toddler in our life). But I’ll try to keep my feet up as much as possible, and I’ll get someone to cover my duty day at E’s nursery school on Monday. The good news is he told me to start doing the Fragmin every other day. My stomach bruises are getting really ugly, so that suits me just fine.

I’m back in to the clinic tomorrow for another intralipid infusion, and then another ultrasound next Thursday. Hopefully that one will show the empty sac has been reabsorbed and the baby is growing well. If I’m really lucky the clot could be gone too, but I had one with E. (I think it was bigger but not as close to his sac) that stuck around for the whole first trimester and never caused a problem.

So. Good news for this stage in the game, but I feel very much still in limbo. It still seems tenuous, uncertain.

7 responses to “6w3d- Ultrasound”

I had a feeling from your numbers that you had two in there. I can understand all your feelings — relief, sadness, anxiety. All of it. I hope the SCH stays quiet and well-behaved. And I hope you can somehow stay distracted and calm until next Thursday (if you figure out how, do let me know, okay?). So happy for you and your one beautiful looking little guy (or girl!) in there!

Congratulations on the healthy baby. I am praying for you right now that the clot is completely gone by the next ultrasound so that you have no worries at all during this pregnancy. Try to take it easy girlie 🙂 hugs!
waitingforbabybird.com

I had a similar 6 week scan. My second sac had a baby with a heartbeat though, but the hb was slow and the sac was measuring small. My doctors told me it would vanish – no sugar coating at all. But it ended up sticking around. I think most of the time when the second baby is behind at that stage, they usually reabsorb. The good news is it’s highly unlikely that it will have any affect on the other one. I mean, do as your doctor says and definitely take it easy, but I was told over and over that the other bean would be fine. I remember the limbo feeling… Not fun. It was like that for me till my 3rd scan at 9 weeks. Was in turmoil the whole time.

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ABOUT ME

Just your average married, infertile, Canadian woman. I spent the first half of my thirties focused on two goals: motherhood and a PhD. IVF/ICSI brought us our son (E.) in 2011, but a sibling eluded us, despite our best efforts. In between pregnancy, parenting, and trying again, I wrestled the PhD into submission and defended in 2014. In the summer of 2015 I made a number of diet changes that led to the ultimate triumph over PCOS: a completely unexpected natural pregnancy. Our daughter (P.) arrived in June of 2016. A perpetual student, I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up, except write and run.